Friday, March 16, 2012

CHERRY DELIGHTS - DÉLICES A LA CERISE

He appears your friend, butthe Saint hides many SatansHe's contemptuous, you knowof your Godgiven stupiditiesHe calls you in question withaffected modesty and createof you an object of derision [...]- Except taken from the song "Master In Disguise" by Arcturus (Nor)

The weather is a devil in disguise which always manages to surprise us and never fails to be temperamental as well as unpredictable just like a tyrinnical diva. Generally, it's either all or nothing. One day you think that you are living in frostbitten Siberia and the next you'd get tricked into believing that you are residing in the sunny Mediterranean.

A few weeks ago, Europe was still being brushed by a coldwave that froze everything to the core. One had the impression that the North Pole had shifted to our latitudes. Then it was followed by a short interval of chilly, but decent late winter climate which gave way to extremely mild conditions, comparable to that of the end of April. Within a fortnight, the temperatures jumped up dramatically and we experienced an increase of about 30° C (86° f - from minus 14° C to 18° C). Incredible!

Now, it really feels like spring. The air has a distinctive metallic and marine odor similar to that you smell when boats are sitting in the summer heat, daylight lasts longer, primroses and snowdrops are starting to blossom in a parasitic manner, green shoots are appearing between the dead leaves, buds are getting fat and ready to explode, woodpeckers drill trees madly, in the morning and evening black birds sing loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood, noisy and agitated flocks of crows circle menacingly overhead, cats fight like old rags and people are suddenly more optimistic than ever.

Springtime is the land awakening.

The March winds are the morning yawn.

- Lewis Grizzard

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.

- Chinese Proverb

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

- Charles Dickens

When you go out, you are greeted by a symphony of chirps and the warm rays of the sunshine on your pale and shy skin. Every place is bustling with activity. Joggers are doing their rounds, terrace cafés are alarmingly cacaphonous, the streets are bustling with dashing passer-bys and animals are busy getting ready for the birthing season.

Those drastic changes can be quite mind-boggling and tiring as your brain and body are having a hard time adapting to this abrupt transition. After having dressed up like the Michelin man for the last 4 months and eaten your good share of comfort foods without being upset about the calories you ingested, you are now having difficulties knowing what to put on as you are not ready to shed off your thick layer of reassuring clothes in order to reveal your dismally flabby belly, untoned legs and pudgy arms (please be reassured, I am exagerating for the sake of entertainment) .

What a shock! The disastrous vision of your unfit self is not a pleasant thing to aknowledge and suddenly, with sheer terror you realise how much you allowed yourself to become a little too lazy and careless.So, even if you don't care about all this propaganda about being skinny and believe that healthy women should have curves in the right places, you nonetheless start panicking and feeling desperate and guilty as you wish you had not sat so much in front of your favorite series, hibernated like a big fat grizzly bear or gobbled all those gorgeously soul-uplifting calories during the entire duration of the winter.

Why did you enjoy so many rich meals and not exercise more? You ask yourself the same question over and over, and you can't stop blaming yourself for having given in to laxity. However you are not somebody who endless laments herself over her, thus you decide to take action and begin elaborating plans in order to regain control over your slack lifestyle...

Going through such phases is quite normal as it is in our nature to need to cocoon and raise our spirits with soothing grub when the climate is unfriendly. If we overdieted and did not take a moment to breathe as well as to slow down once in a while, we'd end up being malnourished, depressed and totally drained of our energy as we'd act against what our organism dictates us to do. We all have to accept that there are periods during which we have no other choice than to follow our instincts and listen to what our physical system tells us.

Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.- Jim Rohn

The body too has its rights; and it will have them: they cannot be trampled on without peril. The body ought to be the soul's best friend.
Many good men however have neglected to make it such: so it has become a fiend and has plagued them.- Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

Of course, whatever you do, you must never forget that any excess is dangerous and that you should privilege harmony over debauchery or overdiscipline. For that reason, I try to not dramatize the fact that my trousers are ever so slightly tighter, because I know that I haven't done anything terribly wrong and that I will soon be able to lose the extra grams I have gained lately. Nothing tragic here.

Spring is synonymous of rebirth, awakening as well as lightness and thankfully, it forces us to wake up and alter our behavior. That cosmic metamorphosis influences us greatly and consequently we go through some kind of natural reprogramming before the summer arrives. With the arrival of February, we begin to crave food that is less fat and heavy and we look forward to going for walks and getting closer to nature again.

Even if I didn't properly let myself go, the cold season had its toll on me and now that April is at our doorstep, I feel boosted with a new energy and reconnected with my mortal frame. At the moment, I yearn for fresh, refined, flour-free and fruity desserts.

Being a passionate cook/baker, I am graced with a flourishing imagination, hence I am rarely short of resourcefulness and constantly come up with terrific ideas that I successfully turn into reality (flops happen, but they are outnumbered by favorable outcomes).

The verrine recipe I am presenting today, was invented on the occasion of a friend's visit. As I know that she is not against reasonable indulging and is not enclined to swallow tons of artery-clogging victuals, I decided to offer her a heavenly sweet treat that would not sit on her stomach after our banquetting on "Apple & Celeriac Soup" and "Guinness Shepherd's Pie".

Recently, pastry cream and griottes in syrup have been quite often on the menu, so I thought that it would be wonderul to concoct a sweet pudding which would combine both and would emphasize the delights of cherries. This lead me to associating the flavors of sour cherries with that of mahleb.

To accompany my fruits, I made a straight-forward crème pâtissière and incorporated a few teaspoons of this Middle-Eastern aromatic spice into it, then once the preparation was cold I folded in some whipped egg white in order to obtain a fluffy and delicate mousse consistency. To add a bit of crunch to the whole thing, I prepared a healthy granola with oats, honey, tahini and a spit of butter. Once everything was ready, I arranged those three components in alternating layers and presented them in pretty glasses.

As you can imagine, my "Cherry Delights" were a total winner and disappeared very fast. Seeing Corinne and P. gobble them greedily brought a smile on my face. There is no better reward than catching a glimpse of the people who you are close to you having a blast while savoring something you have lovingly made for them!

Method For The "Pastry Cream":
7. Put the milk, mahleb and salt in a pan, bring to a light boil.
8. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, 2 eggs, 1 yolk and vanilla extract until smooth, fluffy and light/pale in color.
9. While constantly whisking, slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture.
10. Return the whole to the saucepan.
11. Over medium heat and while whisking non-stop, cook until you get a thick consistency (just bring to a slight boil).
12. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes and then incorporate the butter, a little at a time, until the pastry cream is smooth and shiny .
13. Cover the surface with clingplastic, directly touching the cream. Let cool completely.14. Once the pastry cream is at room temperature, whisk it in order to make it smooth again.15. Beat the egg white until soft peaks form.16. Add the powdered sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks appear.17. Incorporate delicately the egg whites to the pastry cream.Method For "Assembling The Verrines":18. Start filling the bottom of the glasses with about 2-3 Tbs pastry cream mousse, add about 1 1/2 Tbs granola and then the cherries (6-7).19. Repeat the process once more and finish with an extra layer of pastry cream mousse.20. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.21. Just before serving, sprinkle with some of the leftover granola.

Comments:If you don't have any mahleb, then add a little more vanilla extract to the pastry cream or a few drops almond extract.You can replace the tahini by the same quantity of butter.You can also make this dessert with fresh cherries (I recommend the darker variety). Please note that I weighed the cherries once drained.

Serving suggestions:Serve as dessert with some bubbly wine (Champagne, Clairette De Die or Prosecco) or some quality Sauterne, Vin Santo, Gewürtzraminer, Amaretto or Maraschino.

Just earlier we were saying the same here, that the weather is like a bomb sometimes. my sister in laws have never experienced cold climate so its difficult for them to undertand what cold climate is like. Humidity must have been at 96 today.. melting away.

I had to giggle when u wrote that u were dressing up with big coats and u looked like the michelin man. I always say that too.

Thank God for spring. I went out to the park opposite my place yesterday evening. It felt SOOOOO good to see so many people around and to be out, inhaling fresh air.I say this because I don't go out the door unless it's grocery shopping or eating out with husband on a weekend. The rest of the time, I've been inside my place ALL DAY, ALL WEEK since months.No flabby belly, untoned legs and pudgy arms, though :D

Happy Spring! Your photos are amazing.Where we have our cooking school in Valpolicella is famous for their cherries. We will go back in the fall when they a ripe, rich, and wonderful. How would this recipe work with fresh cherries?

LAEL HAZAN: Thank you! I am happy to hear that you enjoyed my post. I love fresh cherries, but they are quite expensive. I really like the darker variety. Yes, you can very well make this dessert with fresh cherries. It would even taste better, I'm sure. ;-)

Hi Rosa,Thanks for another great moment of pleasure, either with the words you wrote and the pudding you left us which is absolutely stunning and look so scrumptious and moreish.Thanks also for all the detailed steps. FANTASTIC!!Cheers and hope you have a fantastic weekend,Lia.

We're experiencing similar weather. We had very nice warm days and all the sudden it started to rain and non stop! By the time rain is over, probably it's straight 2 week long. Ugh! I can't wait for the spring to come. Your photos are gorgeous, both food photos and landscape photos. I wish I have the patience to work on photos more and improve. Thanks for inspiration!

I think we will be finally experiencing the coming of Spring today as the forecast is around 18 - 20 degrees C. Your pudding looks delicious especially with those cherries and granola. Have a wonderful weekend.

Rosa, what an incrdible recipe! I love cherries and I love this type of creamy dessert. Add to it that amazing homemade granola (tahini? Brilliant) and it is nothing short of spectacular! Yes, spring has sprung and I have been trying desperately to get back in shape and shunning all desserts I make for my family. This one would be hard to resist. Hope you are feeling better, baby. x

I'm glad spring has arrived where you are, Rosa. I confess, I don't know if I like spring better than fall or not. I love seeing flowers sprouting up, but fall colors and flavors have always been my favorite.Your verrine is a delight. So pretty. And the tahini is a surprise ingredient in your granola!

Rosa, your friend is sooo lucky to be able to indulge in this sweet, creamy + crunchy treat. Mostly she is lucky to indulge in your company :)Happy to see you are feeling better. Love hearing your take on the seasonal changes.

Those cherry delights are simply delightful, Rosa. When I saw 'pastry cream', it made me want them even more. Speaking of weather..no winter in NY/NJ this year. 50's and 60's on the coldest days except for three..and now 80 degrees in March. I hate it..I love winter! I hope this doesn't happen next year.

Thank you for such a fascinating post about Spring. Your dessert sounds fantastic especially since you put crème pâtissière and not only whipped cream I frankly like much less. It's funny because I have just bought some frozen cherries and will be making a dessert with them. I am happy you feel better now!

I love cherries and this treat sounds delightful. I cannot wait to dig in. I had to laugh about your comments on the crazy weather. I was in Spain during that incredible cold spell - just amazing. I had every sweater on that I could find.

It is spring here for sure for the winter was never was this year :( I do not know how you combine the most beautiful things!! Mahleb and Tahini and Cherry and Pastry cream... how can anyone resist this!